Students develop bad behavioral patterns when they learn they will be rewarded for negative behavior through attention. This comes after they attempt more positive behavior and receive negative feedback, often because the positive behavior is not considered good enough by others. For example, a student may try really hard and raise his D to a C, but still receive criticism afterward for not having an A. Positive reinforcement can serve as a learning strategy, as students rewarded for academic achievement have more of a tendency to put in effort to learn classroom material in the future. Teachers can reward students through better grades, positive feedback and acknowledgment.
Repetition is commonly used as a learning strategy. Students who want to remember historical facts should reread these facts until they are committed to memory. Repetition can also help when changing behavior. Teachers should continually reinforce positive behavior while ignoring negative behavior. Students may also lack knowledge on how to behave in a well-mannered way. For example, students may use aggression with other students because they lack social skills to interact in positive ways. Teachers can continually emphasize more positive responses to problems. Some students have personal or family problems at home and may suffer from developmental disabilities.
People have more of a tendency to learn effectively when they develop self-efficacy. When students successfully complete tasks, they develop a belief in their ability to perform similar tasks. This can lead to higher self-esteem and cause students to no longer feel they must act out to receive attention.
Students can set deadlines when studying or completing a project so they feel more motivated to complete tasks. This learning strategy fights procrastination. Deadlines are also helpful when managing bad student behavior. When students get distracted easily and do not study or do classroom assignments, teachers can place deadlines on the students, create consequences for missing them and continually reinforce the deadline.
When students misbehave, they often want attention. Several learning strategies can give students attention they need. For example, teachers can have students do research on their own and then present discovered information to the class. Students can put on plays that allow them to understand literature and also give them opportunities to be expressive. Teachers can try to channel behavior problems into effective learning strategies.